


Suibian

by Brieeze01



Series: Feelings, Smut and Love ^.~ [1]
Category: Mo Dao Zu Shi, The Founder of Diabolism, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, BAMF Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Bichen - Freeform, Bìchén Sword (Módào Zǔshī), CORE, Canon Compliant, Comfort, Communication, Coping, Emotions, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Husbands, Kissing, Love, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī Has Feelings, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn Fluff, M/M, Married Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Masturbation, Memories, Nighmares, Outdoor Sex, Peeping, Possessive Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Post-Canon, Rimming, Soft Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Sparring, Suibian - Freeform, Suíbiàn Sword, Swordfighting, Top Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Bottom Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Training, Voyeurism, Wei Wuxian's sword, juniors see something they're not supposed to see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24655861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brieeze01/pseuds/Brieeze01
Summary: Wei WuXian was solemn, the night around him quiet and still. His grey eyes unreadable as they moved over the length of his sword, his face a complex mix of emotions as he faced Suibian and everything it stood for. His eyes growing distant as long forgotten memories drifted across his mind and for a moment, he thought he’d drown under those memories.After a minute, an hour, an eon, Wei WuXian found a breath inside him, then he found another and another and with it he resolved that he would wield this sword again.He shook his head and took a long, deep breath, centering himself as he brought Suibian up into a sword stance. He stilled for a moment.And then he was moving.His body lunging forward as he fell into his old routine. So ingrained it was that not even 2 lifetimes and a war could make him forget those familiar patterns. He moved through the sequences as if he had never stopped. He turned with a curve as his sword cut through the night and the weight of it in his hand felt so right. Like it belonged there, had always belonged there.He thought of nothing in this moment, not the memories, not the dead; nothing existed in this space and time, nothing but him and his sword.
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Series: Feelings, Smut and Love ^.~ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808650
Comments: 205
Kudos: 920





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT***  
> I'm reposting this because I have to show you this amazing comm @fengshouzai did for us. It's on chapter 3 so pls check it out! It's so beautiful!!!  
> @brieeze01 on twt if u cant wait lol
> 
> So I read an interview somewhere with Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and she said that post-canon Lan Zhan would definitely help Wei Ying train his new core so he could use Suibian again and I thought that was so soft and wonderful. This story is about Wei Ying confronting his sword and the demons that come with it and Lan Zhan helping him along the way plus some shenanigans from the juniors XD I hope you like it and I'd love to read your feedback, critiques, kudos or whatever~

Wei WuXian stood motionless in the dark clearing. A cool night wind playing with his bangs and feathering through the long black tips of his hair. He stood with his feet firmly planted on the ground, his body centered and steady. In his right hand, he held Suibian, the hilt solid and firm and so very familiar. He stared at it for a long, silent moment; the soft, sad edge of melancholy drifting across his face. 

_“What is the name of this sword?”_

_“Suibian.”_

_Lan WangJi frowned and refused, “This sword has a spirit. Calling it as one pleases is disrespectful.”_

_“Think outside the box, won’t you? I wasn’t asking you to call it whatever you wanted to, but the name of my sword just happens to be ‘Suibian’. To be honest, this name isn’t bad either, right?”_

_“… Ridiculous!”_

_“You’re such a boring person. Don’t you see how fun this name is? It’s especially good at tricking serious ones like you, and it works every single time. Haha!”_

Wei WuXian was solemn, the night around him quiet and still. His grey eyes unreadable as they moved over his sword, his face a complex mix of emotions as he faced Suibian and everything it stood for. His eyes growing distant as long forgotten memories drifted across his mind. 

_Across Carp Tower, Nie MingJue’s gaze turned over again, “Why does Wei Ying not carry his sword?”_

_Lan WangJi responded in a lukewarm tone, “He had probably forgotten.”_

_Ning MingJue raised a brow, “He can even forget something like this?”_

He let his gaze slowly travel the length of his blade before tracing along its name, etched with bold strokes into the dark wood. He swallowed dryly, his breath catching in his chest and for a moment, he thought he’d drown under his memories.

_Jiang Cheng turned to him over the sword he was polishing, “From now on, carry your sword in important events like hunts or Discussion Conferences. That’s a ripe example of lack of discipline for others to laugh at.”_

_Wei WuXian, “It’s not like you don’t know. I hate it the most when others force me to do things. The more they force me to do something, the less I want to do it. I’m not carrying my sword—what are they going to do about it?”_

_Jiang Cheng glared at him. Wei WuXian added, “And I don’t want to be pulled into a sword duel by people I don’t even know. Whenever my sword unsheathes, there has to be blood. Unless they give me a few people to kill, nobody can bother me. So I’ll just not take it. Solves everything. It’s better that way.”_

_Jiang Cheng, “Didn’t you use to love showing off your sword skills in front of others?”_

_Wei WuXian, “I used to be a kid. Can’t be a kid forever, can I?”_

_Jiang Cheng smirked, “Don’t carry your sword, then. It doesn’t matter._

Another gust of wind swept through the night, swirling through the Cloud Recesses making the trees rustle and their heavy leaves shiver. It cut through the clearing whipping Wei WuXian’s long hair back from his shoulders, that red ribbon fluttering behind him, the color of blood under the dim light of the moon. His fist was clenched so tight on the hilt in his hand, his knuckles turned white. 

_A top Phoenix Mountain Jin ZiXun mocked “But it’s only natural that you don’t think you’re in the wrong. It’s not the first time that Young Master Wei has disregarded the rules. You didn’t wear your sword in both last time’s flower banquet and this time’s hunt. It’s such a grand event, and you care nothing for courtesy. So the YunmengJiang Sect’s discipline is nothing more than this!”_

Wei WuXian closed his eyes against that dull ache in his chest. That unending void inside him nothing more and nothing less than the weight of his sins forever etched into his heart, his lack of discipline just another black mark on that long, long list. He took a deep, almost shuddering breath as another memory assaulted him with devastating clarity. 

_In Guanyin Temple, Jiang Cheng’s face switched between white and red, “Why? Wei WuXian, just fucking why? Who was the one who broke his promise and betrayed the Jiang Sect first? That so long as the GusuLan Sect had its Two Jades, the YunmengJiang Sect would have its Two Prides?!_

_Jiang Cheng was crying. Tears poured from his eyes as he forced through his teeth“… Why… Why didn’t you tell me?!”_

He shook his head slowly, the memory almost physical in its pain as he felt his breath hitch in his chest. He swallowed heavily past the lump in his throat, his long lashes fluttering as he opened his eyes again. The grey of his gaze was so heavy and dark as he shifted his grip on his sword slowly unsheathing it. 

_It was precisely because I didn’t want to see such a Jiang Cheng that I decided not to tell him the truth about his core..._

Wei WuXian shook his head again and took a long, deep breath, centering himself as he brought Suibian up into a sword stance. He stilled for a moment then took another deep breath, emptying his mind, the moon painting long shadows across the rippling grass.

And then he was moving. 

His body arching suddenly before lunging forward as he fell into his old routine. So ingrained it was that not even 2 lifetimes and a war could make him forget those familiar patterns. He moved into the sequences as if he had never stopped. His right arm fitting to Suibian like a glove, like it hadn’t been over 15 years since he had last wielded it. He turned with a curve as his sword cut through the night and the weight of it in his hand felt so right. Like it belonged there, had always belonged there. 

Wei WuXian twisted his body, swinging his arm around and slashing through the shafts of moonlight that drifted through the clearing, Suibian held firmly in his grip. He pivoted into a graceful turn pulling his blade across and into another series of lunges and passes as he moved with his blade. The sword work engraved into his body even after 2 lifetimes. 

He turned again shifting his weight and pulling his blade across to cant it up in front of him. Suibian, a perfect extension of himself. He paused in the block for a moment, his eyes catching the moon sparkling along his blade before he surged forward through the footwork he knew so well. His grey eyes were sharp and focused even as he marveled at the electricity running through his body. The arc of spiritual energy tingling along his nerve endings and leaving him breathless. He spun into another strike, his form casting long, graceful shadows across the clearing, the light of the moon leaving him in pale relief. 

He thought of nothing in this moment, not the memories, not the dead; nothing existed in this space and time, nothing but him and his sword. 

~*~

At the far end of the Cloud Recesses, Lan Zhan bolted upright in his bed, hazy and disoriented for a moment as he gazed foggily around the dark jingshi before his heart lunged into his throat as he realized with a panicked snap that Wei Ying was gone. His husband’s side of the bed already cold to the touch.

_!?_

He scrambled out of bed almost tripping on the blanket as he tried to think past the prickling fear suddenly twisting in his chest. His stomach tying itself into knots as a thousand what-if’s tumbled through his head; haunted memories casting themselves across his mind. He stumbled over his feet and threw himself out the door barefoot and in nothing but his sleeping robe, panic clawing at his throat. He looked around wildly scanning the dark trees around the jingshi as he fought to think.

He took a moment and shook his head hard a few times trying to rein in that horrible chill running down his spine. He took a shuddering breath, turned right back around and marched back into their home. 

He forced himself to focus as he glanced around the jingshi again with controlled patience. He saw Wei WuXian’s boots lying discarded by the bed, his regular robes draped over the dividing screen as usual, his flute leaning on the edge of their table. Other than the glaring fact that Wei Ying was not in their bed at 1 in the morning, everything else was exactly the same as it was every other day.

Lan Zhan took another long, deep breath as he willed himself to calm down, catching sight of Wei WuXian’s jade token of passage hanging off the belt with the rest of his clothes. He breathed a shaky sigh of relief knowing without it, Wei Ying couldn’t have left the Cloud Recesses.

He turned again with determination as he walked right back out into the night, barefoot and all, casting his spiritual energy out in search of his husband; trying his best to ignore the twin pools of anxiety and fear curling through his chest. 

~*~

Though Mo XuanYu had a golden core, he had never dedicated himself to the art leaving both his core and his body too weak and pitiful to be of much use and at the time, the issue of ChiFeng-Zun and Jin GuangYao was too pressing a matter for him to focus on much else so Wei WuXian had resorted to what he did best pulling the black gossamer threads of resentful energy around him with a skill that lent truth to the legends and the nightmares of the infamous YiLing Patriarch.

Now though, it had been 3 months since that fateful night in Guanyin Temple when too many truths had been spoken and too many hearts had been shaken. And Wei WuXian, once reviled and loathed by almost everyone who uttered his name, now found himself in the most amazing set of circumstances. 

He found himself happily and amazingly married to HanGuang-Jun of all people and, to Lan QiRen’s morose resignation, living with him in the jingshi at the beautiful and impossibly strict Cloud Recesses. He spent his days wandering the long, curving forest paths, night-hunting with the juniors or traveling here and there with Lan Zhan to wherever the chaos was and though he used his demonic cultivation when it suited him, he had found himself becoming more and more aware of the tingling current of spiritual energy that now ran in his veins. 

At first, he had ignored it too used to life without his core to think much of the pitiful one in his new body but after the dust had settled in the aftermath of Jin GuangYao, Wei WuXian had found himself with time on his hands and he decided then that, at the very least, he did wanted to ride his sword again. 

So one night, long after Lan Zhan had fallen asleep, Wei WuXian crept out of bed no longer able to ignore that prickling current that ran through his blood; and he found himself in the middle of one of the forest clearings deep in the backwoods of the Cloud Recesses, Suibian clutched tightly in his hand. 

It was heavy, the weight of everything it stood for, every sin he had to commit, every life he had to take, every sacrifice he had to make like a bar of steel across his shoulders and a lead ball in his hand. The guilt welled up inside him like a maelstrom threatening to drop him to his knees. And for a moment he had hung his head in defeat. For a long, silent moment he had stared at the sword in his hand, guilt-ridden and unworthy. 

After a minute, an hour, an eon, Wei WuXian found a breath inside him, then he found another one and another and with it he resolved that he _would_ wield Suibian again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the quoted text and spelling including names, I got from the ExiledRebelsScanlations translation of the novel. Also this story has elements from all the mdzs versions including the drama, the novel, the comic and the anime :)


	2. Chapter 2

After his mad dash out of the jingshi, Lan WangJi had run the full length of the imposing mountain Cloud Recesses sat atop, anxiety and trepidation giving speed to his legs and a little over an hour and half later he had felt the light pulse of spiritual energy coming from the far edge of the Cloud Recesses along the deep backwoods near the eastern border. 

Sprinting through the trees, HanGuang-Jun almost skidded to a stop, his heart lunging in his chest before he peered through the overgrown leaves. And Lan Zhan froze, his eyes growing wide at the scene before him. 

Wei WuXian cut a beautiful line across the grass, his body twisting and turning as he lunged into his strikes and blocks with practiced ease. His sword shimmering in his hand. He moved through the sword forms with an elegance Lan Zhan had only seen a handful of times, so long ago it felt like another lifetime. 

He felt his breath catch in his chest as he watched Wei WuXian spin, his arm rising into a sharp pass, Suibian almost glowing in his hand, silvery and sharp. The blade slashed across in front of him as he flipped out of the way of his imaginary opponent. 

He pivoted around, leaning into a dodge before his arm swung up into a block. He swept his foot around to drop his opponent, leaping back into a twisting jump, Suibian snapping forward in an arc as it sliced through the air. 

Lan Zhan stared, rooted to the spot. He forgot to move, forgot to breathe as he stared at the man before him. That Wei WuXian was not the delicate Mo XuanYu. He was not the lithe, weak young master who had summoned the YiLing Patriarch. He was not the giggly, flirty young man that teased him and batted his long eyelashes. That man was not the shy youth who preferred to hide behind Lan WangJi. 

No. The man in that clearing moved with skill, as though his body had always known the strength of his sword. He moved through fancy footwork with ease, his body long and graceful as he canted his blade and brought it whistling down in front of him. 

That man was Wei Ying, the YiLing Laozu, the only man besides his brother to match him in strength, to match him in skill; his equal, his soulmate. The man before him was the real Wei WuXian. 

Lan Zhan watched him twist into another sword sequence, gasping suddenly as he realized he’d forgotten to breathe. Wei Ying was incomparably beautiful in this moment, his body steady, his feet firm and strong, his long, black hair loose and swinging into the wind behind him with that red, red ribbon; his eyes focused and serious as he faced Suibian and everything it meant to him. 

The air in the clearing was charged and almost crackling with energy, Wei WuXian’s conflicting feelings almost palpable as he sought to make peace with his sword. His bright, flirty eyes were dark and sharp. The laughter that danced across his lips was gone, that clever smirk overshadowed by the determined tilt to his mouth. That uncharacteristically serious look on his face was not one Lan Zhan was used to seeing, not anymore. 

Violent memories of the YiLing Laozu drifted across his mind, Wei Ying’s grey eyes so cold and untouchable with his closed off heart. When he had come back from the Burial Mounds, he had been changed. He was no longer the carefree Wei Ying, a bright grin always on his face. Instead he was dark and distant. It had shaken Lan WangJi to his very core that night he and Jiang Cheng had met him at the supervision office with Wen Chao’s snivelling, miserable self and Wei WuXian’s pale, eerie face. 

Lan Zhan took a staggered breath as he stared at the stern lines of Wei WuXian’s face. He swallowed the lump in his throat simply unable to accept that heavy, serious look on his Wei Ying. Summoning his sword, he leapt into the clearing. 

~*~

“SHH!” JingYi hissed as Jin Ling tripped over a tree root next to him almost sprawling flat in the dirt, 2 jars of Emperor’s Smile clinking together in his hand as he scrambled not to drop them.

“Tch!” He huffed shooting JingYi a sharp glare as SiZhui stepped up beside him looking nervously around the dark pathway they were on, 2 jars of wine clutched in his hand as well. Behind them, the shimmering blue wards glimmered gently for a moment as the three juniors slipped back into the Cloud Recesses. 

“JingYi” SiZhui mumbled as he glanced around again. The bright light of the full moon cutting a silvery line across their path leaving long, dark shadows around them as they crept through the backwoods of the Cloud Recesses, jittery and nervous. 

“I don’t think this is a very good idea….”

“SiZhui….you’ve been saying that all night….just relax, ZeWu-Jun and HanGuang-Jun are totally asleep by now. I mean it’s way passed 9” JingYi tossed his bangs to the side as he glanced around nervously before taking a confident step forward. 

“Come on, all we have to do is get back to our room. It’ll be fine” he whispered as the trio crept down the path with their forbidden wine. The rush of breaking rules warring with the tight clench of fear in their bellies, adrenaline spiking through them as they snuck quietly through the Cloud Recesses. 

~*~

Wei WuXian twisted gracefully, skillfully; his form solid and his body steady. He lost himself to the burn of his muscles, the rush of spiritual energy running like fire down his arm. It was exhilarating, that golden current crackling along his nerve endings, full of promise, full of power. And he felt a grin tug at his lips as he leapt up into the air swinging around with an arc, slamming his sword straight down. 

He was so lost in this moment that it was a veritable shock when Suibian met another blade with sharp, loud clang. He froze, his eyes wide as he blinked at the man suddenly in front of him.

“Lan Zhan” he grinned after a moment, panting with exertion as he tossed his sweaty bangs out of his face. 

“Fancy meeting you here” 

He smiled lazily at his husband despite his heaving chest. Mo XuanYu was not only spiritually weak but his body was soft and delicate as well, no stamina or endurance at all. It was another thing on Wei WuXian’s list of things to deal with. And though he absolutely loved being protected by Lan Zhan, it would be nice to be just a little bit stronger. He grinned again as he took in the Second Jade of Lan. 

Lan WangJi was the single most beautiful human being Wei WuXian had ever seen both in his previous life and this one with his jet black hair against his pale, pale cheeks, with golden eyes like light colored glass. He stood barefoot in his sleeping robes, his long hair loose and spilling down his back. He was devastatingly handsome in the silvery moonlight, almost ethereal; cold and distant, like a work of art carved in jade. 

“Wei Ying” The elegant and graceful HanGuang-Jun spoke softly, at odds with the fact that he stood barefoot in an empty clearing in the middle of the night with his sword locked to Wei WuXian’s.

Wei Ying smiled, bright and bold and Lan WangJi felt his breath catch in his chest again, his heart so full of love for this man; this reckless, selfless, untamed man who had stolen his heart so many years ago on the rooftops with just one of his brilliant smiles.

“Spar with me Lan Zhan?” 

Wei WuXian grinned again as he waited for the expected ‘Mn’ before he lunged somehow faster than he was before. He swung his arm blocking Lan Zhan’s Bichen as a laugh danced its way onto his lips again and he jumped backwards out of range. That cold, serious expression gone from his face as he laughed again. He twisted and turned his body slipping easily into jabs and parries, Suibian holding its own for Lan WangJi. 

Wei WuXian was no fool to think he’d last against his formidable husband with the measly core he had now but he appreciated Lan Zhan’s gallantry. The honorable HanGuang-Jun met him on equal footing letting Wei Ying thoroughly enjoy their match even though they both knew Lan Zhan could pin him in an instant.

~*~

“JingYi!” SiZhui hissed, his hand snapping out to grab the other disciple. 

“Where are we?!” 

“We’re almost there!” JingYi whispered quickly as he glanced around the unfamiliar path. “It’s a shortcut!” 

It had to be because if it wasn’t then he had no idea where they were. The deep backwoods of the Cloud Recesses wasn’t a place good disciples went especially at 2 something in the morning. The three juniors glanced nervously around again, their hands clenched tight on the forbidden bottles of wine they had snuck in. 

Their bellies were tight with fear; meeting a senior or worse HanGuang-Jun or ZeWu-Jun at this hour with bottles of Emperor’s Smile in their hands was literally the most terrifying thing that could ever happen to the teenagers.

Jin Ling took another few steps down the trail, so rarely used the trees and plants grew close together almost obscuring the dirt path they were on before he turned to the other disciple with a glare. 

“Admit it JingYi! You have no freaking clue where we are!”

“I--” His head whipped around with a snap as all three juniors froze, a distant clang echoing from off to their left. 

SiZhui glanced at his friends again before turning and following the sound, curiosity pulling him forward despite his better judgement. They crept into the underbrush that lined that old dirt path JingYi swore up and down was a shortcut. 

Pushing through the thick trees they followed the sounds of sword fighting inching closer and closer until they ended up before a set of thick overgrown bushes. Crouching down they carefully peered through the broad leaves and branches pausing in shock as they spied the elegant and regal form of their very own HanGuang-Jun. 

The juniors’ eyes widened in shock as they stared at the scene before them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😭❤ look at this absolutely amazing comm @fengshouzai did for Suibian!! Its so efn perfect!!!! Links at the bottom ❤❤❤

“You’re such a gentleman HanGuang-Jun!” Wei WuXian grinned as he parried another strike, dancing back and to the side, Suibian slashing out quickly to block the heavy Bichen again. 

“Who would have thought the great Lan WangJi would take mercy on this poor YiLing Laozu!” Wei Ying cackled as he flipped out of the way of Lan Zhan’s sweeping kick. He was almost vibrating with energy, exhilarated at their impromptu match.

He hadn’t realized just how much he missed swordfighting, missed the pulsing core in his belly. That electric current running up and down his nerve endings and leaving him almost lightheaded with excitement. That and the fact that Lan Zhan was sparring with him made him smile so wide, he thought he might split his cheeks. 

Wei Ying spun around pulling his sword from behind in a twist to parry another heavy handed slash as Lan Zhan met his sword head on. The ever expressionless HanGuang-Jun was efficient in his movements, every strike and jab simple yet powerful without a single ounce of wasted energy. 

Lan Zhan wielded his sword like he did everything else in his life, meticulous, perfect; elegant and graceful and Wei WuXian was struck once again by the sheer beauty that was Lan WangJi. With every move he made, his long black hair swept behind him almost shimmering in the moonlight. His handsome face determined and those breathtaking amber eyes focused and firm. 

Wei WuXian snapped back to attention as he caught Bichen in a stalemate for a moment, his gaze drifting up to those beautiful golden eyes. He looked at Lan Zhan over their locked swords, his cheeky grin softening around the edges as a sweet smile spread over his lips. 

“What a man you are HanGuang-Jun!” He teased breathlessly as he fought to hold his sword against the heavy weight that was Lan WangJi. His grey eyes warm with affection as he panted. This body was not fit and it had nowhere near the endurance necessary for a swordfight much less against Lan WangJi himself but Wei Ying really couldn’t help it. Lan Zhan was something else. 

“Ah Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, you’re really great you know that?” He snickered as he glanced at his husband’s ears already pink and he felt Bichen lean a little harder into their stalemate. 

“You’re really wonderful Lan Zhan” Wei Ying purred before he lunged backwards and out of the stalemate turning almost instinctively as he felt Lan WangJi follow through with his move, the strike almost brushing the fluttering edge of Wei WuXian’s robe. 

Wei Ying laughed again as he pivoted his body. 

“So elegant HanGuang-Jun! Although it’s pretty shameless of you to appear in public in nothing but your sleeping robes. Are you trying to seduce me WangJi-xiong?”

“Focus” Lan Zhan ignored him as he turned to face his grinning husband, his sword surging forward in a strike. Wei Ying parried him again before pushing forward with his own expert footwork almost dancing on his feet. 

Wei Ying moved around him and against him with sharp thrusts and quick flicks of his sword as the pair sparred back and forth. Lan WangJi canted his Bichen up to block a downward strike as he privately marveled at Wei Ying’s swordwork. 

He could feel how weak his core was but despite it, Wei Ying sparred with a skill that far outclassed the core and the body he was in. Had he been in his old body, he would have been a fearsome opponent. 

“Ah Lan Er-gege take mercy on this weak body of mine! I am no match for the venerable HanGuang-Jun!” 

“You….aren’t you training?” Lan Zhan asked him as their swords caught in another block. He held back his formidable Lan arm strength allowing Wei Ying to hold his own against his sword as he asked, honestly curious.

“Eh….maybe I am and maybe I’m not” Wei Ying grinned cheekily as he panted around his words. He was exhilarated and exhausted after the hour he had spent practicing and the hour he had spent sparring but he couldn’t calm down. Every pass with his sword and every pulse of the golden core within him sent that electricity up and down his spine and he relished it. He relished that feeling, a feeling that had been lost to him for over 15 years. 

He made as if to lunge backwards like before expecting Lan Zhan to follow through with his strike. As soon as he felt Bichen begin to move he ducked down instead slipping quickly out of range as his husband spun back around to meet his strike with a block having fallen for the feint. 

“Ah, focus Second Master Lan!” Wei Ying teased as he jumped to the side, canting Suibian across to land a glancing blow against the nearly transparent blade of Bichen; the sword of ice and snow.

~*~

“Wow…..I had no idea Wei-qianbei could use a sword?!” SiZhui whispered, his eyes wide as he watched his seniors spar. The match was amazing to see with Suibian’s red glare sparking against the pale blue of Bichen. The sword glares were dim and controlled as the pair moved across the clearing skillfully striking and blocking each other, pivoting and lunging with precision. 

“He’s pretty good! Right?” JingYi marveled as he elbowed Jin Ling, his dark eyes following the parries back and forth. The seniors were easily in a class of their own, their match exciting as the juniors watched from the bushes. 

“Eh…. HanGuang-Jun’s letting him win.” He scoffed with an obvious show of disinterest before he hissed as JingYi elbowed him again.

“Shut up young mistress! Obviously HanGuang-Jun’s just sparring with him. Only ZeWu-Jun can take him when he’s serious!” 

“Who are you calling young mistress!” Jin Ling hissed back as he shoved the other disciple. Before a loud clang caught his attention and he turned to look again. Despite his attitude, he followed the match closely even if his pride would never allow him to tell the truth. And the truth was Wei WuXian was holding his own remarkably well. What he lacked in strength he made up for with cleverness. He used feints and mock strikes to throw HanGuang-Jun off before dancing nimbly back out of the way. Then he would lunge or parry Bichen twisting around before ducking or dodging to the side. His footwork was quick and efficient and Jin Ling found himself impressed whether he liked it or not. 

“Shh!!” SiZhui whispered sternly, his eyes glued to the sparring pair. It was so exciting to watch since none of them had ever seen a real straightforward match with HanGuang-Jun or Wei WuXian before.

“He started it…” Jin Ling trailed off with a huff as he watched the seniors slam their swords into another stalemate. 

~*~

“Ha…...haaaa…...ahh…..Mercy HanGuang-Jun!” Wei Ying panted breathlessly as he fought to brace his sword against Bichen. His eyes alight with happiness, almost sparkling over their crossed swords. 

“Mercy! Mercy! Lan Er-gege! You have beaten this YiLing Laozu!” 

“Do you yield?” Lan Zhan asked his own breath just a little faster from their match, sweat dampening the collar of his robe. Ever serious, he still couldn’t keep the softness from his eyes as he took in his sweaty, panting husband. He leaned into Bichen just a little more feeling Suibian struggle against his weight. 

Nonetheless Wei Ying had given him a good, solid fight. While he couldn’t hope to match Lan Zhan in strength, he did weave in and out of fancy footwork using his cleverness to keep HanGuang-Jun on his toes. And Lan Zhan admitted to himself that despite everything, he was actually having fun even if it was 2 or 3 something in the morning. 

Something about the fire in Wei Ying’s eyes and that dancing laughter full of humor and happiness filled his heart to almost bursting, banishing those haunting memories and filling his eyes with something warm and fond. It had been a long, long time since he had seen this Wei Ying; this sweaty, exhilarated Wei Ying almost vibrating with energy, his core pulsing with effort and thrumming through his sword. 

“Never!” Wei Ying grinned and made to pull back expecting Lan Zhan to step forward and when he did, the YiLing Laozu lunged to the side out of the path of Bichen before darting in again to kiss him quick and fast on the mouth. Shocking the venerable HanGuang-Jun completely as he froze in place suddenly unable to compute the surprise attack. 

Wei Ying laughed and immediately planted both hands on his husband’s chest and pushed hard, his foot curving out to hook his ankles, dropping Lan Zhan flat on his back, Suibian swinging out elegantly to point one very sharp tip at his throat.

“Do you yield Lan Er-gege?” He purred around a grin as Lan Zhan stared up at him completely dumbfounded, his amber eyes wide with shock. 

“Wei Ying….” 

He spoke a little breathlessly as he met those brilliant grey eyes. He lay there flat in the grass, Suibian pointed at his throat but all he could see was those grey eyes, that clever smile so achingly familiar and he was thrown back to the night they first met on the rooftops. A 15 year old Wei Ying grinning at him with that same flirty smile and those bright, bold eyes. 

“Hm? Lan Er-gege? I think I bested you my handsome HanGuang-Jun” Wei Ying cackled with another one of those beautiful smiles and Lan Zhan nodded, simply unable to speak, unable to form words in the wake of the torrent of love he felt rushing through his chest against that devastating smile.

~*~

“Oh my ancestors! SiZhui!” JingYi gasped in absolute shock. “He won?! How did he win?!” 

“He cheated” Jin Ling muttered, still staring at the incredible view of the venerable HanGuang-Jun flat on his back with a sword at his throat. It was such a jarring sight that none of the juniors could fully compute what they were looking at. Never in their wildest imaginations did they ever think Wei WuXian was capable of taking him down.

“What?! How did he cheat?!” JingYi hissed back almost offended by Jin Ling’s words. 

“He dropped him fair and square!”

“He cheated” Jin Ling whispered back “he k……..k…….kkkissed him in the middle of a match! That’s cheating!” 

“It’s not cheating! If an enemy distracts you in a fight and you lose, you still lose!” JingYi fired back, still unable to take his eyes off the mind boggling sight before them. He almost couldn’t fathom this amazing turn of events elbowing a similarly shocked SiZhui. 

“I can’t believe HanGuang-Jun lost?!?!” 

“I still think he cheated…” Jin Ling muttered before he froze with a gasp, completely stunned as a red blush suddenly burned across his cheeks.

“Wha….?!”

~*~

“Ah Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan” 

Wei Ying grinned down at his husband as he pulled Suibian back sheathing it before he held out his hand to help Lan Zhan up. 

“You are really, truly the grea….AH!!” Wei Ying gasped with a squeak as Lan Zhan grabbed his hand and yanked him down into the grass, his body falling with a soft thump onto his husband. 

“Lan Zhan! How Shamele….mmph” 

Lan Zhan cut him off with a kiss. His hand curling around Wei Ying’s neck to slide into his sweat soaked hair and pull him closer. He deepened their kiss, slipping slowly into Wei WuXian’s mouth with a provocative lick. And Wei Ying gasped again surprised before his long lashes fluttered closed as he surrendered himself to the seduction that was Lan WangJi’s hot mouth and his wet tongue.

“Mmm” Wei Ying moaned softly as Lan Zhan caressed his tongue with his own, his other hand sliding around to lay heavily against his lower back with a possessive press. He slanted his mouth and dragged his tongue against Wei Ying’s in one long wet glide relishing his husband’s low moan as their kiss turned deeper, their mouths moving just a little bit faster.

The fire from their match still running hot in their blood turned to passion easily as Lan WangJi arched his hips up gently grinding lightly into Wei Ying, the thin material of their sleeping robes simultaneously hot and irritating. Lan Zhan kissed his husband softly and sweetly, firmly and delicately breathing love into his mouth. He kissed him until he couldn’t think straight, their bodies growing hotter and hotter before he pulled back just enough to breathe nipping Wei Ying’s lower lip with a light bite, tugging it with him as he leaned back into the grass. 

He lay there, his breathing just a little faster looking up through the thick black fan of his long lashes to meet the storm grey eyes that gazed back at him, darker with that edge of desire Lan Zhan adored. He could not get enough of Wei Ying but the Wei Ying wild with lust, with heat, this Wei Ying with passion in his eyes burned under his skin in a way that was completely unreasonable. It tied his head into knots and the whole world fell away around him, nothing in it but Wei Ying and his endless grey eyes. 

“Mmmm Lan Er-gege how shameless of you….” Wei Ying purred as he chased that hot mouth leaning down to kiss him again, leading the kiss as he dipped into Lan Zhan’s mouth. It was so sweet as if honey lay on his tongue and Wei Ying moaned softly as he felt that broad hand slide down his back to caress his ass. He rubbed it for a moment before grabbing his cheek firmly with his entire hand pulling another one of those soft moans from the man above him. 

“Er-ge...mmmm” Lan Zhan surged forward taking control of the kiss. Their wet tongues moved from his mouth to Wei Ying’s and back again as he rolled them over, his broad body pressing the smaller man into the dewy grass as their mouths slanted together, their kisses growing wilder and more unrestrained, full of nipping bites and long wet licks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh look at this!!!!!! Ilism!!!!! 
> 
> https://twitter.com/brieeze01/status/1358885559092002822?s=19


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh! Ok! Oh no we should go!” SiZhui squeaked as he backpedaled fast tripping over his feet and falling flat on his butt in the dirt, his face so red it was a wonder steam wasn’t coming out of his ears. 

“Shut up SiZhui!” 

JingYi hissed as he continued to stare at the pair in the clearing. HanGuang-Jun and Wei WuXian were kissing, no they were making out passionately in the grass just close enough that the juniors could see those wet, red tongues moving back and forth with the bright moonlight but far enough or distracted enough that they couldn’t hear SiZhui fall gracefully back on his ass.

“I’m leaving!” Jin Ling hissed even as he continued to look too. 

“Fine leave young mistress! This is too much for your innocent eyes!”

“Shut up JingYi! I’ve seen this stuff before and I don’t want to see them do it anyway!” He scoffed, trying to look dignified despite the red blush over his nose that trailed all the way up to his ears but he made no move to leave.

“You have not! Besides I’ve never seen it actually happen…” JingYi whispered back as he watched his seniors roll over in the grass. 

“Besides they’re not going to actually do it, I mean they’re outside?!”

“What if…..what if they do?!” SiZhui asked with a strangled voice trying his best not to look but the reality was, they were teenage boys with jars of wine and HanGuang-Jun and Wei WuXian were being really sexy. 

So JingYi yanked the top off one of his jars of wine and drank the whole thing before he dragged his fist across his mouth with a determined look on his face. (Wei WuXian would be so proud)

“They won’t…” He nodded as he scooted a little closer to the bush they were hidden behind. 

“...........Shit…” Jin Ling cursed as he downed his own jar of wine. He didn’t really want to watch them do it but a part of him was genuinely curious. He glanced over at SiZhui, nudging one of the jars closer to him. 

“They’re not actually going to do it” Jin Ling repeated reassuringly and the eldest Lan disciple swallowed heavily, steeling himself before he grabbed that jar and drank it too. 

~*~

“Ah! La…...Lan…..mmmm” Wei Ying moaned helplessly as that talented mouth nipped his lip again before licking the sting away as he moved lower, pressing hot open mouthed kisses along his jaw and down the gentle curve of his neck, sucking up little red petals along his pale skin.

“Ah! Lan Zhan do….don’t” Wei Ying huffed trying to keep his wits about him. 

“I’m all sweaty and dirty at least let me take a ahhhnnnn!” 

He broke off as Lan Zhan pushed the top of his robe aside to wrap his mouth around one of his pink nipples. His hand moving to the other one as he trailed the rough pads of his calloused fingertips around that raised bud. 

“Haaa….ahhh!” Wei Ying threw his head back into the grass, his hands sliding up into Lan Zhan’s long hair as he pulled and pinched his nipple hard while he licked and sucked and bit the other one, his hips pressing forward to grind their cocks together through their sleeping robes. 

“Ahmm!” Wei Ying arched back rubbing against the hardness he could feel against his hips as HanGuang-Jun made a mess out of him. No matter how many times they did this, he still couldn’t come to terms with how hot and lewd his prim and proper Lan Zhan was. Every move he made sent fire along his nerve endings making him hotter and harder and it was all he could do to submit to his husband and whatever he wanted to do to him.

“Ha…...Er-gege please mercy! K….kiss me Lan Zhan! I can’t...mmm... can’t take it when you pull them like that!”

“Wei Ying” Lan Zhan mumbled against his red nipples as he glanced up, taking a moment to stare at the unrivalled beauty that was his husband. Wei Ying was the sexiest thing he had ever seen but laying there in the grass, his cheeks glowing under the moonlight, his lips kiss swollen and his chest heaving, he was breathtaking and Lan Zhan just had to kiss him again. 

So he did, he kissed those swollen red lips as his hands trailed down Wei Ying’s chest over his shivering belly carefully avoiding his hard length to tease the sensitive skin of his hips. He kneaded the skin there with both hands swallowing Wei Ying’s broken moan as the younger man bucked up hard under Lan Zhan’s mercilessly teasing. 

“AH! La….mmph….mmmm….Lan Er-ge pl….please to….touch me!” Wei Ying panted against his lips as he bucked his hips up again, his hands pushing lightly at Lan Zhan’s shoulders encouraging him to move down with either his own hands or his mouth or his cock anything to sate this need he had inside him. Something about their match, about their heaving breaths and sweaty skin was driving him mad and Wei Ying needed his husband to move along, to get to the best part. He needed Lan Zhan inside him almost as badly as he needed to breathe. 

“Mn” Lan Zhan moved suddenly leaning back onto his knees between Wei Ying’s open legs as he tugged his husband’s robe completely open baring his flushed skin to the cool night air, his cock jutting straight up in a lewd display of lust. 

“Pl….please Lan Zhan….hmm….please Er-gege put this YiLing Laozu out of his misery….!”

Wei Ying shamelessly thrust his hips up as he stared into those hot amber eyes, his own dark with desire. Not willing to wait anymore, he leaned up quickly pressing a hot open mouthed kiss to Lan Zhan’s lips as he pushed his robes off baring those broad shoulders before his hand dropped to his husband’s hard cock.

“Mmm Er-gege do you like that?” Wei Ying purred feeling victorious as Lan Zhan growled against his lips, pressing into his mouth to kiss him fiercely, one of his hands sliding into Wei Ying’s hair while the other one grabbed his waist to drag him closer until their cocks were pressed together.

“AHHMMMM!” Wei Ying moaned heavily into Lan Zhan’s mouth as that broad hand wrapped around them both, tugging and pulling, sliding up and down with rough, rapid strokes as he kissed down Wei Ying’s mouth along his jaw and down his neck to plant his teeth firmly into the crook of his shoulder.

“AH!! AHHH!” Wei Ying gasped out a wild whine as those teeth bit firmly into his skin, the pain blending into pleasure in a hazy rush as he felt something low in his body begin to tighten, Lan Zhan pulling him closer and closer to the end.

“No…...n….no Lan…….Lan Zhan” Wei Ying huffed “I wahh…..I want…haa...you…..I wa…...ahhnt to finish with you in…haaaaaaahnn….inside….aaaaaahh!”

Wei Ying dropped his head to Lan Zhan’s shoulder panting as his eyes fluttered closed, the pleasure swirling within him with every firm tug, the drag of Lan Zhan’s cock against his so unbearably hot.

“Mn” Lan Zhan grunted breathlessly, his hand stopping abruptly.

“Ah?! Er-gege why did you stop?! Don’t stop! If you stop what am I supposed to AHHH?!” 

Lan Zhan pushed Wei Ying back quickly and flipped him over on all fours, his ass right in his face as he moved up onto his knees. He ran his hands over those round cheeks, kneading them. He leaned forward and kissed the right one before he bit.

He dug his teeth into the soft skin of his ass pulling with a powerful suck to leave a purple violet behind on that pale cheek and Wei Ying whined breathlessly, his arms collapsing under him and dropping his chest to the ground. His cheek pressed into the dewy grass, his flushed face turned to the edge of the clearing and the three juniors almost hyperventilating behind the bushes. 

~*~

“JingYi!” SiZhui hissed in panic, his hand grabbing the other disciple’s arm hard. His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. The wine in his blood and the scene in front of him heating his body up under the prim and proper white robes of his sect.

“Yyyyyou said…...yyou said they weren’t going to to to ddo it!?!?!?” 

“SHUT UP SIZHUI!” JingYi whispered fiercely as he grabbed the other jar of wine. His own cheeks were on fire, alcohol buzzing through his veins. His robes were hot and sticky against his skin. He shoved the 2nd jar into SiZhui’s arms as he snatched the other one and chugged it. On the other side of him, Jin Ling did the same, his eyes glued to the titillating scene in front of him, his body hot and flustered under the view and the effects of Gusu's strongest wine.

Whether they liked it or not, the pair in the clearing was definitely going to do it and at this point, 2 jars of wine in and uncomfortably aroused all three juniors braced themselves as they watched their esteemed HanGuang-Jun leave bite after sucking bite all over Wei WuXian’s ass. The younger man’s deep, breathy moans simultaneously the hottest and oddest sounds they had ever heard.

“Wh...wha...t are they eeven, how can they even…...he’s not a….a…..a woman?!” Jin Ling gritted out confused. He was honestly confused at what he was watching but he was even more confused by his own body. 

_I’m not a fucking cutsleeve what the hell even….is this?!_

He thought crossly as he leaned forward trying to surreptitiously cover the bulge in his pants. He glanced nervously at the other two juniors feeling just a little bit better when he saw that they were hard too. 

He glanced back up with a snap as Wei Ying let out a particularly loud, velvety groan that slid over their ears like satin, his swollen mouth falling open sexily and his eyes fluttering closed as HanGuang-Jun….

JingYi choked with a cough, SiZhui let out a strangled gasp and Jin Ling felt his mouth drop open in absolute shock, a hot rush of heat running up his spine. 

~*~

“AHHHAAAANNNN…..HAAA!” Wei Ying moaned, breathless and wild as Lan Zhan spread his throbbing cheeks and dipped his head, licking one long, wet line from his balls all the way up over his quivering hole to bite at his tailbone. Then he did it again and Wei Ying lost his mind.

“HA….HAAAANNN” 

"Mmn" 

Lan Zhan moaned against that heated skin as he licked another hot line across Wei Ying’s hole tasting his husband’s slick on his tongue. It was a little salty with the sweat from their sparring match but that did nothing to cover the thick honey on his tongue. It was so very sweet.

Lan Zhan moaned again as he rubbed his tongue into that fluttering hole feeling it quivering under his mouth. He laved it with hard rubs, turning his head slightly to nip at the skin of his cheek pausing to leave another little bite mark right where that cheek met his entrance only to turn his head back to press against that wet, pink puckered rim.

He licked and sucked and pressed against that hole until he felt it give under him and he slid into Wei Ying with one long, slick glide all the way until his teeth dragged at his rim. He pumped his tongue in deep before pulling back only to press in again fucking his husband with his mouth. 

He groaned softly as he felt that little hole clutch at his tongue, every dirty moan Wei Ying released running like wildfire down his spine and he knew he really couldn’t take much more. He reached a hand up to shove 3 fingers into Wei Ying’s moaning mouth as he continued to push and lick and thrust and suck at that delicious hole.

Almost in relief at something to do, Wei Ying wrapped his lips around Lan Zhan’s long elegant fingers and sucked, coating them in spit. He slid his tongue up and down, sliding between the fingers as he moaned again feeling that hot mouth against his ass undulate inside him. It was driving him absolutely mad. He needed more, he needed his Lan Zhan to nail him to the ground with those heavy hips. 

“Mmmmmmaaaahmmmm!”

Lan WangJi pulled back with a loud, lewd pop as that soaking wet hole released him and he pulled his fingers from Wei Ying’s mouth rubbing his ass affectionately when he released a low whine at the loss.

Swallowing heavily, Lan Zhan pushed two fingers straight into him all the way to his knuckles before pulling them back only to do it again, fucking and stretching and working that hole open for him. Wei Ying’s wild moans burning his ears. His voice was so husky and lewd, like silk along his spine and he quickly shoved a third finger in as soon as he felt that hole open up a little more. 

Since they made love every day, it wasn’t long before Wei Ying was loose and ready for him.

With a breathless pant, Lan Zhan wrapped his hands around his husband’s hips and tugged him back until their thighs were flush against each other as he positioned his long hard length. He was so hard, it was throbbing in his hand.

He leaned forward breathlessly and pressed the hot swollen tip of his cock to that wet, fluttering entrance with a deep, guttural groan of pleasure as that tight hole wrapped around him. A twin moan falling from Wei Ying as well as he experienced the incomparable stretch of Lan Zhan pushing his big cock inside him.

“Ye….YES! Lan ZHAN… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Wei Ying gasped with a loud moan as Lan Zhan reached his breaking point and he bucked hard smacking his ass with the thrust. And then he yanked his hips back only to snap them forward again and then again. He set a punishing rhythm between them sliding out until only the thick tip remained inside before slamming back in, pulling and pushing, thrusting and bucking again and again and again and again.

The wet slapping sounds of sex loud around them in the silence of the night and Lan Zhan had a fleeting moment of clarity to thank his ancestors that they were in a remote back clearing so they didn’t wake the entire Cloud Recesses because he absolutely loved the wild, breathless gasps and moans and pants Wei Ying released. 

On nights when he really intended to make his husband lose his mind, he’d put up silencing talismans because no matter how shameless Wei Ying was, Lan Zhan just didn’t have the face to look at his uncle or his brother after their wild nights. Though they’ve probably already heard a thing or two since Lan Zhan never could seem to keep his hands to himself, losing his mind more often than not against Wei Ying and his sinful smile. 

He wrapped his hands tighter around Wei Ying’s hips and yanked him back to meet his thrusts moaning as he felt that hot hole clutch even tighter at him. He gritted his teeth against his release forcing it back as he changed his angle right into that soft spongy bud he knew would leave his husband in pieces. 

“Ah….haaaaa…..aaaaannnnngghhhhhaaaaa! HAAA!! YES LAN ZHAHHHH…..hufff”

Wei Ying was a moaning mess, he couldn’t tell up from down as Lan Zhan continued to fuck him, those heavy hips pistoning into him and slamming his thick cock into that sensitive spot over and over and over again. Every buck sending stars behind his eyes and he knew dimly that tonight he simply would not last. 

“ER-GEGE MERCY! PL….HHAA…..AAAAHHHH….. PLEASE……IT’S TOO AAANNNNGH…HAAA…. DEEP! MERCY….LAN ZHANNNNHAAAAA…….” 

He panted and groaned and moaned against the grass as pleasure spiked through his veins. Lan Zhan’s heavy hips throwing his body forward even as those strong hands pulled him back to impale him on that hot, hard shaft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wei Ying can get wet. I don’t know, its canon so its canon here too lmfao. Its in the Incense Burner Arc. Apparently Wei Ying adapts to the position biologically, MXTX 👀 lol


	5. Chapter 5

“Holy…...ssssh….ssssshi….it…..” 

JingYi whispered brokenly, his words almost slurring together as the jars of Emperor’s Smile hit him hard. He stared at the tantalizing scene in front of him. He was so hard it hurt as Wei WuXian’s sultry voice and those lewd slapping sounds stung his ears. Even the deep, hoarse groans from HanGuang-Jun were hot and he just couldn’t help it anymore. Perhaps it was the alcohol buzzing in his head, or perhaps it was something else but he let his hand drift down to the stiff tent in his pants. 

“Ji….JingYi!” 

SiZhui hissed, his own voice wavering breathily as he tugged at his collar. The wine making him impossible hot even though the night was cool. His vision was swaying even as odd things seemed to come into hyperfocus as he noticed what his friend was doing out of the corner of his eye because he simply could not look away from the sexy scene in front of them. It was impossible to deny just how carnal and raw and passionate they were, like they were completely different people and not the fun loving Wei WuXian or the proper HanGuang-Jun. Instead they seemed like creatures of sex and lust like some of those demons they had read about that fed on the passions of others. 

Wei WuXian was sex incarnate. Every arch of his lower back, every breathless moan, every sway of the heavy cock between his legs, his wet fluttering lashes or his kiss swollen lips begged for your attention. It was almost impossible to look away from him. Even HanGuang-Jun seemed slave to the creature beneath him.

Lan WangJi was a different sort of captivating, his long black hair spilling down his bare back to caress his thrusting hips, his heaving chest flushed with a red blush, sweat glistening along his body, his strong hands tight around Wei Ying as though even he was trying to hang on under the inescapable seduction that was Wei WuXian.

His eyes were lidded and dark, that heavy amber almost glowing from under the thick fan of those long, long lashes. His lips were kiss swollen and parted around his panting, groaning mouth as he dedicated himself to his husband’s pleasure. His snapping hips moving faster and deeper, pistoning in and out, in and out over and over again as he chased their ending.

And SiZhui really couldn’t take it anymore either, his own hand sliding under the white robes at his waist to dip into his pants. He knelt there in the dirt next to his best friends as he tugged his hard length out of his trousers palming it with his calloused hand, biting his lip between his teeth at the moan that caught in his throat at the relief of the friction on his throbbing cock. 

Jin Ling was no better, his stubborn refusal to touch himself tensing his shoulders and pulling his muscles taut as he stared unblinkingly at the pair in the clearing in front of them. His breath almost shuddering out of him under the heavy arousal running up his spine. He blinked a few times trying to steady his gaze as the potent emperor’s smile caught up to him when he suddenly heard a stilted gasp next to him and he glanced over freezing in shock for what felt like the millionth time that night as he spied his friends. 

JingYi and SiZhui were kneeling in the dirt next to him, their cocks curving long and hard in their hands as they rubbed themselves in time to the snapping slaps of HanGuang-Jun’s hips and the husky, lewd moans falling from Wei WuXian’s red mouth; their own hips bucking up into their hands, their faces flushed with alcohol and lust, their eyes dark with desire.

The younger disciple tossed his bangs to the side as he gasped again, his fist pumping steadily around the head of his hard cock. Passed him, SiZhui had his lip caught between his teeth, his hips rising and falling as he dragged his hand up and down the full length of his shaft, arching his back into it.

And Jin Ling couldn’t avoid it anymore. His head swimming fuzzily even as he resolutely refused to think about what they were doing and about what he was going to do as he shoved his hand into his pants moaning low in his throat at the foreign feeling. Even though he was a healthy teenage male, he didn’t do this very often but the sight and sounds of the fucking pair in the clearing and the desperate rubbing of his friends swirled with alcohol and sex in his head as pleasure crawled up his spine. 

He slapped his hand over his mouth to stop the moans that wanted to tumble from his lips as he tugged up and down his length, pausing to twist his fist around the swollen head of his hard cock. Their hands moving faster to match HanGuang-Jun’s bucking hips and Wei WuXian’s broken voice coming faster and faster with his breathless moans.

~*~

Lan WangJi was lost to the pleasure swirling between them, the pressure of Wei Ying’s tight, wet body scrambling his mind as his husband’s husky, velvety voice drowned everything else out. He felt a familiar swell pool low in his body, pulling tighter and tighter as the pressure teased him with his release and he knew he was going to come. 

He pitched his bucks as deep as he could go slamming into Wei Ying’s sensitive bud with heavy punching thrusts willing him to come too. He dragged them both higher and higher until he felt that pressure pull taut within him until it snapped.

“AH! AHH! AHHHHH! LAN…..HANN! I’M…..ANNNNNGH!!”

“Nnnn!”

Wei Ying gasped with a wild cry as he came, his cock pulsing long stripes of white into the grass below him. Sparkling lights blooming across his eyes as he felt Lan Zhan’s deep, hoarse moan, his husband’s body jerking into his with a sharp snap, that hot, hard length inside him twitching and jerking within him with every thick spurt of his release. 

Across from them, the three juniors hidden in the bushes jerked too. JingYi huffed with a stifled gasp, SiZhui dug his teeth into his lip almost hard enough to draw blood and Jin Ling spasmed, choking off a strangled moan as he tried to keep his voice down, their climaxes painting the dirt with thick white lines. 

“Ha…..ha…...haaa….” Jin Ling panted fighting to keep quiet as his vision swam around him and JingYi shuddered with the aftershocks of the strongest orgasm he had ever had. He slumped back onto his heels feeling dizzy as SiZhui panted next to him finally having released his abused lower lip.

“.....f…….f…...fuuuuuuuuuck…..” the head disciple of the Lan Sect cursed for the first time in his entire life as he fought to keep his eyes open against the blurry pair in the clearing. HanGuang-Jun had folded forward tiredly, laying against Wei WuXian’s back as the other turned his head to accept a languid kiss from his husband. 

“Lan Zhan…… I really, really love you” he purred, exhausted, against those talented lips, his breath still coming fast and hard through his nose, their passion just starting to cool in their blood. 

SiZhui willed himself down from the high of his climax trying desperately to focus as he observed that sweet kiss. He sat back down on his heels limp, an errant shiver trailing along his back from the most intense feeling he had ever experienced.

He blinked again almost groaning as his vision spun when something faint and wispy caught at the edge of his sight and he turned to look, catching the delicate curls of the morning fog that blanketed the Cloud Recesses in the early dawn and he fell back into his body with an immediate snap. 

“JingYi!” He hissed, his voice low and breathless, yanking his pants back up and stumbling to his feet. His head felt like it was full of cotton. “W….w...we ha….havvvvvve tooooo go! Now! It’s allmoooost 5!!” 

The head disciple took a clumsy step forward, the alcohol still in his blood leaving him almost lightheaded as he pulled Jin Ling up by his arm. The young LanlingJin Sect leader quickly fixing his robes, SiZhui’s panic contagious as JingYi struggled to his feet almost swaying with the wine in his veins. 

They dashed dizzily back out from the bushes praying they were going in the right direction as they sprinted across the Cloud Recesses hoping to every single god they knew, that they didn’t run into ZeWu-Jun or Lan QiRen.


	6. Chapter 6

Wei Ying sighed letting his breath out with a woosh as Lan Zhan tugged out of him before flopping over into the grass. He snaked an arm around his husband’s waist pulling him back against his chest in a cuddle. He was absolutely exhausted, drained and tired and all he wanted to do was sleep with his arms full of Wei Ying’s warm body. 

“Hey…..Lan Zhan….” Wei WuXian spoke, drowsy and spent, his voice soft and whispery in the quiet around them.

“Mn?”

“Uhm….thanks…...thanks for sparring with me. I know I’m not really much of an opponent…” He trailed off with that soft, hoarse voice pressing further into the warm, solid chest at his back. 

“Mn” Lan Zhan hummed as he considered that for a moment, nuzzling into Wei Ying’s thick black hair. 

“You’re welcome.” He whispered back at last. 

“I will spar with you whenever, you need only ask…” _so why didn’t you?_

He trailed off leaving an unspoken question hanging in the air between them. He buried his nose behind his husband’s ear a little more firmly almost as if encouraging an answer to that question he didn’t ask. 

“I…...it’s been so long……..I……guess I just didn’t think about it...” Wei Ying evaded, his voice bright with a fake sort of lightness as he pulled tight, impenetrable walls around himself like a fortress as though he could hide all the dark, ugly feelings in his heart, bury them so deeply no one would ever see them; ever see him and the weight of the sins he carried like a bar of iron across his shoulders. Even 13 years and a lifetime later hadn’t absolved him of the guilt he carried like a barb straight through his heart. 

Lan Zhan shifted against his back pulling him even closer as though his arms could convey just how deeply he loved him, how deeply he accepted him, his faults, his triumphs, his smiles and his tears. There wasn’t a single inch of Wei Ying he didn’t love, love with a ferocity and an irrationality that boggled his mind. His own heart felt heavy in his chest as a melancholy wave swept over him. He knew Wei WuXian loved him. He knew it as an indisputable fact but even so he also knew with profound clarity that his bright and cheerful Wei Ying hid a veritable avalanche of pain behind that teasing, flirty grin letting no one see just how deeply the ache in his heart ran. 

If there was one thing he had learned these past months was that Wei WuXian hid behind a wall of laughter, a wall so high and broad no one had ever peered behind it. No one had ever seen the true form of his pain, his heartache. And though Lan Zhan knew it was there, he was powerless against it if Wei Ying pushed him out too. And for yet another time in his life, Lan WangJi cursed his inability to speak; the words he needed to slip passed that wall and touch the deepest parts of Wei WuXian’s heart lost to him as he tightened his arms around the man against him, the slight stiffness in his shoulders betraying the emotions running through his husband. And even though they were as close as their bodies could ever be, Wei Ying was so far away from him, his heart distant and closed off.

Wei WuXian wore his happiness on his sleeve, his heart rich and vibrant with his laughter and his endless love for everyone and anyone around him except for himself. Everyone was more important, everyone’s fears, needs and wants outclassed his own at every turn. His life was nothing more than a veritable map of self sacrifice as he placed value and worth on everything but himself.

And Lan Zhan’s heart hurt with a pain that was almost physical as he felt that wall between them, that impenetrable wall that Wei Ying wrapped around himself with such ease. 

“Wei Ying……” He spoke softly into the early morning air. “I am here.”

He pressed a kiss to the ear against his nose as he whispered again.

“Talk to me?” 

He nuzzled his husband again as he felt Wei Ying stiffen up in his arms, his body tense as he heard that softly pleading voice.

Wei WuXian was quiet and still for a long while, the silence stretching between them endless and Lan Zhan despaired as he hugged Wei Ying tighter as though he could express his heart through his body. But he would wait. For as long as Wei Ying needed, he would wait for him. Wait for him to trust him because that was what Lan Zhan was asking. Lan Zhan was asking for his heart, his whole heart and that was something Wei WuXian didn’t know if he could give.

He didn’t know if he could face the dark corners of his heart, much less share that haunting pain that painted macabre dreams across his mind. They had been sharing the same bed for months now and Wei Ying knew with every screaming nightmare that awoke him in the middle of the night that one day he would have to talk about it. But Lan Zhan, bless him, had never asked, content to hold his shivering body and chase the ghosts of his past away with soft, gentle kisses. 

His nightmares were always there, suffocating him, strangling him with guilt and regret. They weren’t as frequent as they were in his past life but they lingered on, following him, haunting him and Wei WuXian had made peace with it. He accepted it as a sort of punishment, accepted that some nights he would watch Lotus Pier burn to the ground, Jiang Cheng horrific in his grief. Other nights he would have to watch his shijie die in front him over and over again mixed up with her beautiful smiling face in her radiant wedding dress. 

One of the first nightmares he had after meeting Jin Ling at Dafan Mountain had been so violent it had snapped the paralysis spell Lan Zhan had cast on him that night after his relentless teasing and he had woken them both up with a broken sob, pale and trembling, cold sweat soaking his sleeping robes. And Lan Zhan had pulled him tight against his body, his arms like a warm refuge. His broad hand rubbing his back soothingly. His low voice and his soft ‘I’m here’ wrapped around him like an old blanket. It was a long, long while before he stopped trembling and even then neither one of them had fallen back asleep. And the next morning, Wei WuXian brushed it off with a shameless grin pulling that wall of laughter around him again. 

But he knew Lan Zhan knew, knew with certainty that Lan Zhan had seen too much of his heart that night when he had met those golden eyes the following morning but he wasn't ready to talk about those nightmares. He didn't know if he would ever be able to talk about them. 

Wei Ying pushed them away as he swallowed dryly, he was even less certain about Suibian. Could he really touch those wounds? Could he really face his sword and all it stood for? Wei Ying didn't know. As he lay there in the early morning, he truly did not know if he could give Lan Zhan what he asked for. He didn't know if he could bare any part of his heart, not those nightmares, not his sword, not any one of those devastating memories that haunted his dreams. 

But Wei Ying knew too that Lan Zhan was no fool to misunderstand this moment. To miss the glaring fact that he had left quietly in the dark of the night barefoot and in his nightclothes to stand in the middle of a backwoods clearing with nothing but his sword and the light of the moon. 

For all that he hid his heart, it still seemed sometimes that Lan Zhan could see right through him, those golden eyes watching him with warmth, his arms open to catch the weight that lay across his shoulders and carry it himself and that too was something Wei Ying didn’t know if he could do. He didn’t know if he could share that burden, that heavy, heavy burden that was his to bear. And he laid there in the silence of the morning uncertainty filling his heart and tightening his shoulders as he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat almost choking on all the swirling emotions inside him. 

Lan Zhan curled his arms tighter around him and he whispered into the silence of the chilly morning, his hot breath caressing his ear.

“I’m here Wei Ying.” 

And Wei WuXian wrapped that sound around himself again, letting the soft timbre of that voice he knew so well, loved so much comfort him and strengthen him. He let his eyes drift across the clearing, tracing the curling wisps of fog that crept around the edges of the forest caressing the dewy grass and he dragged his voice out of him with effort. He didn’t know how much he could bare, perhaps nothing, perhaps something but he would try. He opened his heart just a little, just a tiny, tiny sliver as he spoke with a slow, halting voice, his words catching in his mouth with all the ache in his chest.

“I…….really didn’t think about it Lan Zhan…...I just………..needed to face it you know. Everything...” he trailed off vaguely as he felt those arms pull him even closer. The barest edge of twilight brushing the tips of the trees leaving the clearing in a dim wash of purple and grey.

“I….couldn’t wield it you know….after…….after the core thing…..and I……...and I didn’t know how to act without it. I’m afraid I grew even more shameless after that.” He laughed, a hollow, broken sound that almost hurt as it tumbled out of his mouth. 

“I was…..” _......scared..._

Wei Ying stopped abruptly, the unspoken words lodging in his throat. He fell silent for a long while, the leaves rustling with the early morning breeze the only sound around them and Lan Zhan’s firm, warm body a comforting weight against his back.

He sighed again bracing himself as he forced those words out. 

“I was scared…..I don’t….I don’t know if I’m……………... worthy anymore. Suibian is…...its…….its a proud blade. A sword of justice and righteousness and I…..I’m not that….not anymore.” His voice trailed off growing softer and softer, barely a whisper in the chilly morning air. 

Those words so soft and fragile hit Lan Zhan's heart like a hammer and he shifted to sit up, tugging Wei Ying up with him until they were face to face uncaring of their nakedness. He looked at his husband who in this moment seemed so small, his eyes cast off to the side as though he simply could not bear to look him in the eye.

He slid his hand under his chin to slowly lift his face until those grey eyes met his with all the force of a typhoon. Nameless emotions swirling through his eyes so fragile and vulnerable that Lan Zhan wanted nothing more than to crush Wei Ying against him, to make love to him until their passion chased that raw, haunted look away but he took a deep breath instead, his thumb moving over that pale cheek in a soft caress.

“Wei Ying.........you are worthy…...I have never met anyone in this life or the last who is as brave and selfless as you and no one is worthy enough to wield Suibian but you. Your sword sealed itself for 13 years, even now it refuses to lift its seal. You know what that means. It only happens once every ten thousand years.” 

He stared into Wei WuXian’s eyes willing him to believe it, willing him to believe that he was worthy, to believe in himself even when he had never done so before, willing him to believe in the words he spoke and the heart that spoke them. 

“You have the most noble and beautiful heart that I have ever seen Wei Ying…” Lan Zhan spoke sincerely, his golden eyes full of truth and love, a wealth of emotions that painted those eyes amber with warmth. 

“Ah…..Lan Zhan….I truly cannot take it when you talk like that” Wei Ying sniffed, his eyes glittering as delicate tears collected on his long lashes and he threw himself forward into HanGuang-Jun’s open arms. 

“You’re really…..truly….the greatest.” He sniffed again burying his head into that broad shoulder. He was quiet in his tears even as they tracked gentle lines along Lan Zhan’s skin but the Second Jade of Lan did nothing, nothing at all but hold him. Hold him as tight as he could, the weight of Suibian falling with every drop of his tears and every quiet sob that shook his shoulders.

He hugged his husband fiercely, his heart overwhelmed with love, with the honor Wei Ying had given him, that trust so hard won settled into his belly warming him up from the inside and for a long while they sat there naked in the grass, this moment between them so raw and fragile. It was just one delicate step further into his heart but Lan Zhan felt as though he was given the sun, the moon, the greatest gift he could ever receive. Those nightmares could wait, this small glimpse into that vast heart was more than enough for Lan Zhan and he wrapped his arms as tight as he could around Wei Ying suffusing him with love and comfort and strength.

That moment passed through them and around them as the sky grew lighter, the twilight glowing in oranges and pinks as 5am came and went. But Lan Zhan didn’t mind it. He would stay in this grass with Wei Ying wrapped around him forever if it meant he would heal, even if only a little. And though it was just one tiny step forward at least they would take it together. And that was all Lan Zhan had ever wanted. 

“Mmmm HanGuang-Jun….how shameless of you to hug me this way! What would your students say if they caught you naked in the grass like this?” Wei Ying nipped his shoulder affectionately, his flirty voice hoarse and shaky and Lan Zhan smiled one of his small, private smiles as he stood up. He carried Wei Ying over to their discarded robes, his husband sniffling and laughing, the shadow of a smile teasing his lips.

“My honorable Er-gege I can walk you know.”

“Mn” he gently set Wei Ying down as he wrapped his robe around him again belting it modestly before shrugging his own back on.

He held out his hand then, smiling another one of his private little smiles, so soft and faint they just barely caressed the corners of his eyes as they left the clearing hand in hand. Their swords held firmly in their other ones as the sun crested the top of the trees, brilliant in its orange and gold, brilliant as they took one step and then another and then another together.

-FIN-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading and for all your wonderful comments! I'm so happy to read them 🥰 I will post the epilogue in a few days and I hope you guys will check out the sequel Lantern Lights with the juniors :) I'd love to read your thoughts and thx again for sticking around ❤


	7. Chapter 7

“JingYi hurrrrrrrrrry u...up!” SiZhui huffed as he tried to walk straight dragging the other disciple forward almost tripping over an errant root just as they burst out of the treeline right next to the Disciples' Quarters. 

“Ugh SiZhui, I think I’m gonna be sick…” He mumbled back morosely, almost stumbling again. 

Next to him, Jin Ling breathed out a quick sigh of relief even as his vision started to swim again just before he froze, his stomach dropping to his feet and his heart threatening to leap out of his mouth.

He elbowed JingYi hard as he swallowed heavily and the other disciple turned towards him with a scathing remark on the tip of his tongue as he suddenly squeaked, fear turning his stomach upside down as he swallowed that nauseous feeling. 

“Ze….ZeWu-Jun….”

“Ah good morning JingYi, SiZhui, Sect Leader Jin” Lan XiChen called out pleasantly, his sweet smile and good natured voice did absolutely nothing to quell the rising panic that threatened to choke Jin Ling as he dragged his manners up from his feet. 

“Go…” cough “Good morning ZeWu-Jun” the young LanlingJin head spoke stiffly as he willed himself to look presentable hoping to every ancestor he had ever had that he didn’t look like he had just busted out of the forest. 

“Going for a morning walk?” the GusuLan Sect leader asked with another pleasant smile as SiZhui scrambled to explain himself.

“Good morning ZeWu-J...Jun, we were just sh….shooowing Jin Ling some of the less traveled paths around Cloud Recessssses since he is returning to La....Lanling today.”

“I see, you’re up even earlier than usual JingYi?”

“Ah yes” cough “ZeWu-Jun, we wa…..wanted tooo spend more time with J...Jin Ling.” JingYi covered hoping to every god he knew that he sounded like the respectable Lan disciple he was supposed to be. 

“Ah yes, WangJi had mentioned something about sending you to Lanling as well. Have you decided on a date then for your next night hunt?”

Lan XiChen watched with no small amount of amusement as all three disheveled disciples turned bright red, blushing from the tips of their toes to the tips of their ears. He gave them a once over as he waited for someone to answer him. 

They were a mess with twigs and leaves caught in their long hair, patches of dirt on their knees, the hem of their robes dusty and wrinkled. He could smell the alcohol on them from a mile away, see it in the unsteady way they looked at him and hear it in their slurring words. 

He hadn’t been a sect leader for almost 20 years not to recognize it and he held back a laugh. Had he been with Lan QiRen or the ever proper HanGuang-Jun he would have had to discipline them quite severely. But it was early in the morning and despite the rigid rules of his sect, Lan XiChen found himself rather loose with the Wall of Discipline when he could afford it and it seemed like their hangovers would be punishment enough judging by the queasy green look on JingYi’s face. 

“No….nooooot yet…..S….Sect Leader Lan” SiZhui stumbled over his words as the mention of HanGuang-Jun yanked them back to their illicit night in the forest. How were they ever going to look him in the face after that?! Or Wei-qianbei for that matter?! He could still hear them in his ear and see them clear as day in his mind.

The head discipline took a moment to wish with his whole heart that the ground would swallow him whole as he felt his cheeks grow even hotter. His head was pounding against his temples and for some inexplicable reason he was almost sure ZeWu-Jun could see right through them. 

“I see well what about you Sect Leader Jin, do you have any particular date in mind that would be best?”

The young LanlingJin leader swallowed dryly as he tried to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. His hands felt sweaty and his head felt full of cotton as he tried to focus, his vision blurring and suddenly it almost seemed like there were 2 sect leaders in front of him and not just one. He thought vaguely that if he didn’t sit down soon, he might very well fall down. 

“No….noooot particularly but I will check ou…..our…..re….ports when I ge...t back.” His voice felt oddly distant in his ears.

“Very well, now hurry along and freshen up. You may rest for a few hours and are excused from your classes since Young Master Jin is leaving today.” He spoke fondly as they bowed to him, their arms a little wobbly. It wasn’t every day that the top 2 Lan Sect disciples broke so many rules and Lan XiChen swallowed down another laugh. 

“Thank you ZeWu-Jun” SiZhui spoke for all of them since JingYi didn’t seem like he could talk and Jin Ling looked ready to fall down. 

Lan XiChen smiled at them again watching them walk off with stiff, shaky steps.

“And SiZhui” he called almost like an afterthought, “from 10 until 2 the three of you are to practice your handstands in the library and reflect on the Wall of Discipline. I’m sure you already know which rules to review.” 

“Ye….yes….ZeWu-Jun….” SiZhui blushed glancing back to meet the sect leader’s knowing eyes, his cheeks burning with shame as he dragged his miserable friends into the Disciples’ Quarters. 

~*~

Lan QiRen sat at his desk, his spine straight as an arrow, his elegant robes spread around him gracefully as he moved his brush in long neat lines penning his reply to the first of many letters he had to attend to. Though he was not the sect leader, he was a well respected authority within the GusuLan Sect and Lan XiChen deferred to him on quite a few matters mostly related to education and several teachers around the cultivational world came to him for advice or recommendations on how to handle studies, techniques, unruly students and so on. 

Lan QiRen moved to sign his name when a sharp howl cut through the morning in the Cloud Recesses. 

“AIYAAAAA LAAAAAAAAN ZHAAAAAAAAN!!!! LAAN ZHAAAN!!!! THAT HURTS!!!! AHHHH! STOOOOOOOOP!” 

His hand jerked in shock cutting a sharp black line across the page of his letter before his hand clenched in fury snapping his brush right in half. Rage clouded his mind as Wei WuXian’s crying voice echoed around him.

_WEI WUXIAN!!!!!!!! YOU SHAMELESS!!!!!_

Lan QiRen threw his brush across the room in fury, anger knitting his brows. His hand flew up to his heart as he paused taking a deep breath willing himself to calm down. Wei WuXian howling at whatever time of the day was not unusual and the revered shifu of Cloud Recesses forced himself into a calm meditative state to avoid the crushing desire to murder his nephew’s husband. 

11 in the morning was usually the time when that demon Wei WuXian started to wreak havoc on his beautiful sect anyway and Lan QiRen pulled himself into the quiet of his mind using every single inch of his hard won patience to drown that loud, abrasive voice out. 

~*~

“AIYOOOO LA….LAN ZHAN STOP STOP STOOOP!” Wei Ying hissed as he tried to pull his hand back, tears collected on his long lashes as he almost sobbed in pain. 

Lan Zhan sighed heavily as he held tight to Wei Ying’s wrist pressing a cold pile of medicinal herbs into the red, swollen palm of his left hand. The plants smelled strong and bitter and Wei Ying gasped, tears leaking out of the corners of his bright grey eyes. His nose was pink as a few tears trailed down his cheeks making it look like someone had bullied him terribly. 

They were sitting on the floor of the jingshi, the morning falling into their home with a pale yellow light, a cool spring breeze drifting over them from the open windows that gently fluttered the thin, sheer curtains hung around the room. 

“It’s going to hurt Wei Ying” Lan Zhan spoke patiently, “You don’t have any callouses anymore. Even if you remember the sword routines, it will take time to train your body to handle Suibian again.” 

Wei Ying sniffed, his large watery eyes staring up at Lan Zhan in abject misery. 

“I don’t remember it hurting this much!?” He whined as he tugged on his wrist again hoping Lan Zhan would let him shake those horrible plants off. They were burning into his swollen palm and all the tiny tears on the delicate skin of his hand.

“Stay still” He spoke sternly as he pulled a clean wrap of bandages over and started to wind it around his hand with quick efficient tugs. 

“No!” Wei Ying gasped “NO! LAN ZHAAAANNNNN YOU CAN’T LEAVE IT ON?!” 

“You need to keep the wraps on for a few hours. I promise it will stop hurting. You did too much last night. It takes years to build up to the sword forms you did so of course your hands are sore. As long as we practice everyday, you’ll build those calluses up again.”

“So mean Er-gege...” Wei Ying sniffed again as Lan Zhan moved to his right hand. Lan Zhan glanced up from his work as Wei Ying sniffled. He felt his heart tug in his chest at those big watery eyes and that pink nose but facts were facts. Wei Ying would have to build up his stamina and his calluses again and that would hurt and he knew Wei Ying knew that. 

He felt his mouth turn down slightly as Wei Ying hissed sharply when he pressed the poultice into his red, angry palm. The skin was irritated and rubbed raw in several places. Lan Zhan suppressed a sigh. Wei Ying wasn’t wrong, it should never hurt this badly. Students practiced steadily over years building their calluses over months until their skin grew thick over their palms. Their sword routines were structured around that fact as well. No novice was ever asked to perform the intricate patterns Wei Ying had displayed last night.

Regardless of Wei WuXian’s prowess in his last life, the body he had now was weak and delicate and if he had any hope of wielding Suibian at the level he did before it would take a few months at the very least for those calluses to grow in.

Lan Zhan finished tying the bandage with a neat knot before he tugged his sniffling husband forward into his arms. He laid his chin against his head as he rubbed a broad comforting hand down his back soothingly.

“I promise it will stop hurting soon. This afternoon we’ll start with strikes.”

“Strikes?! Lan Zhan! I’m not a novice?!” Wei Ying muttered put out as he buried his nose in the soft folds of Lan Zhan’s robes, the smell of sandalwood rich and mellow on his clothes. 

“Mn...you are not but your hands and your body are.” 

“Hmph” Wei Ying huffed, “don’t make me train with the juniors. My pride can’t take that.” He spoke sulkily, his voice muffled in Lan Zhan’s chest. 

“I will train with you and when I can’t SiZhui will.”

“Hmph” Wei Ying complained as he leaned further into Lan Zhan’s arms feeling quite wretched and miserable. His whole body was sore, muscles he didn’t even know he had were throbbing and his hands were on fire but just like Lan Zhan said, the poultice was starting to work slowly numbing the painful skin of his palms. 

“Hey Lan Zhan……” Wei Ying spoke softly after a while.

“Mn?”

“Do you…..do you miss my body? The one I used to have……?” His voice was quiet with an odd edge to it that Lan Zhan couldn’t quite place. He considered that question for a moment sighing lightly.

“I missed you Wei Ying. It doesn’t matter what body you have.”

“I…….I miss my body…..I was bigger and stronger you know, I was just as tall and broad as you Lan Zhan now I’m just this delicate little Mo XuanYu…” he mumbled into those heavy white robes under his nose biting his lip a little as he wondered what Lan Zhan would say to that. 

“Mn….you were but you will be strong again and if you’re not I will love you just the same.”

“....You?!……..Lan Zhan! You…….you have to warn me when you’re going to say romantic stuff like that! I really can’t take it when you surprise me er-gege….”

“Mn” Lan Zhan replied fondly, stroking the long line of Wei Ying’s back affectionately. He laid his cheek against that silky black hair, his eyes soft and his heart so full, so very full of warmth and love. And even though he had duties to attend to, classes to teach and juniors to train he decided that another moment or two with Wei Ying in his arms would be well worth any one of shifu’s legendary scoldings. 

~*~

Across the Cloud Recesses close to the main hall stood the Lan Library. It was a beautiful piece of architecture with rich, heavy beams of wood and an elegant flowering walkway but the three disciples inside had absolutely no patience for the scenery. 

“SiZhui...I think I’m gonna die…” JingYi groaned, the white satin ends of his forehead ribbon falling from his mouth as he struggled to hold his handstand. His arms were weak and his head throbbed dully at his temples. Handstands had never felt this hard before. 

“JingYi!” SiZhui gasped in effort as he tightened his core to hold his legs up. Sweat beaded on his brow as he hung upside down. He held the tails of his headband in his mouth like every good disciple should. Letting their Sect ribbon touch the floor was absolutely not allowed. 

“Yo….your ribbon?!”

“I can’t hold it SiZhui….I’m about to die….”

“ZeWu-Jun told us to reflect on the Wall of Discipline! You can’t let your ribbon touch the floor!”

“How do you Lans do this?!” Jin Ling huffed, panting as he fought to hold himself up in the infamous Lan handstand. 

The three hungover juniors were doing their handstands in the Lan Library as they gratefully accepted the lenient punishment ZeWu-Jun had given them and though Jin Ling was in fact the LanlingJin Sect’s new leader, he was still studying as a disciple while learning the ins and out of running a sect. He may be young and reckless but he wasn’t stupid. 

After the shambles Jin GuangYao had left the LanlingJin Sect in, Jin Ling was more than willing to defer to his elders for advice. Both Jiang Cheng and Lan XiChen treated him well and he respected them deeply both as his seniors and as masters of their own clans. 

In all honesty, he had never known either of them to be unfair or less than meticulous with their sects and Jin Ling both admired and sought to model himself after them. Hopefully he would be able to pull LanlingJin out of the mess it was in soon enough.

Until he was proud and confident in himself as a sect leader he would defer to the judgements and disciplines of those he respected and that was how he found himself upside down at midday struggling to hold himself up next to SiZhui and JingYi. It was agonizing. The blood was rushing in his ears and his head was pounding a heavy drum in his temples but there was absolutely no way he wasn’t going to hold this handstand. 

There was no way he was going to lose to SiZhui and JingYi and he groaned in misery.

“It….It’s in the…..huff…….core muscles…...Ji…..Jin Ling” SiZhui panted, his voice breathless with effort. They were 2 hours into the 4 they had to do and their nauseous stomachs and tight headaches only made it worse. 

Jin Ling gritted his teeth as he tightened up his abs desperately forcing his legs straight so he didn’t topple right into SiZhui standing next to him. 

“This is ridiculous,” he griped and JingYi moaned back miserably in agreement.

“At least we don’t have to copy rules…” JingYi muttered morosely. 

“Wh...What the….he…..huff…..ll….you have to….huff write li….huff like this?!”

“It’s good for….for…..arm strength and co….core…...training” SiZhui gasped back. His arms were trembling under him as he held his position. Handstands were always trying but this one felt almost impossible.

The only positive to this whole mess was that he was too busy trying to deal with this impossible handstand to think about Wei WuXian and his breathless moans or HanGuang-Jun and his snapping hips. 

It was both a blessing and a curse because SiZhui had absolutely no idea what he was going to do when he ran into them if he didn’t burst into flames first right there on the spot. Thankfully the handstands and his throbbing headache kept those thoughts from dragging him under and he spread his fingers wider to hold himself up a little more firmly. 

“He….Hey J….Jin Ling…” JingYi huffed with a gasping breath.

“Wh…huff....what?”

“Wh...when did you huff…..huff…..want to ni….night hunt...huff in Lanling?”

“I...huff…..I….don’t know…..huff…...yet…...I’ll send….I’ll send you a…..huff…..a letter…..” Jin Ling panted heavily and he wondered dimly if he would last the next 2 hours. 

“There’s….there’s a…..huff…...a fe…..fest…..ival….huff at the…...en…..end of…..su….summer…..huff may….maybe…..th….then….” 

A chilly spring breeze blew in from the large open windows of the library ruffling the pages of the books and fluttering the long gauze curtains that hung elegantly around the edges of the large open hall. It was very much welcome as the juniors huffed and panted and groaned in misery as they fought to hold their handstands under the weight of their pounding hangovers but none of them could have ever expected what would happen the next time they would night hunt together at Lanling’s Lantern Festival~

^.~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for so much love and support! I love reading all your wonderful comments :D I'm so happy to see so many of you and I hope you guys enjoyed it :) When I started this story I just really needed Wei Ying to use his sword again and this is what happened lol so thanks for sticking around and I hope you'll check out sequel Lantern Lights. ❤
> 
> Btw guys I have a twitter if anyone wants to come say hi lol I love geeking out about mdzs and yoi :)   
> Check out Brie (@brieeze01): https://twitter.com/brieeze01?s=09


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